-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Security forces arrested eight members of a group linked to al Qaeda on Friday in a Spanish enclave in North Africa , authorities said .

`` We have broken up a network responsible for sending combatants to al Qaeda-linked terrorist groups operating in Syria , '' the Spanish Interior Ministry said in a statement .

The suspects were captured in Ceuta , a Spanish enclave that borders Morocco .

Authorities said the network was based in Ceuta and the nearby Moroccan city of Fnideq .

It recruited , trained and paid for terrorists to fight in other countries .

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Group was sending fighters to Syria , authorities say

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Suspects were rounded up in raids early Friday